Members of The Mars Volta (including Flea) form new band, release first songs

When The Mars Volta broke up last year, it appeared to stem from the deteriorating relationship between vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodrígues-López. The pair first began playing together in the mid-’90s with combustable post-hardcore band At The Drive-In, and after that group split in 2001, the duo quickly brought The Mars Volta to life. Now, after just over a year apart, it appears Bixler-Zavala and Rodrígues-López have rekindled that partnership again. Only, instead of relaunching The Mars Volta, they opted to form a new band, Antemasque, with former Mars Volta collaborators Flea (who played bass on 2002 De-loused In The Comatorium)and touring drummer Dave Elitch.

Though it was only announced two days ago—via ESPN of all places—Antemasque has already released a pair of songs via its Bandcamp page. Both “4am” and “Hangin In The Lurch” lack the expansive explorations of The Mars Volta, instead suggesting that 2012’s At The Drive-In reunion signaled a shared desire to return to something a bit more direct than the bloated beast The Mars Volta had become. It’s hard to say how much of a focus Antemasque will be given, but with Rodrígues-López releasing over two dozen solo albums in the past decade while also joining Le Butcherettes and forming Bosnian Rainbows, juggling bands is his forte.